Optimas Solutions, a global industrial manufacturer/distributor and service provider, has added a new line of manufacturing consumable products focusing on personal protective equipment (PPE) and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) to address urgent customer demands for indirect and consumable items quickly and easily, especially safety products due to COVID-19. To support the initiative, Optimas Solutions has opened a 30,000-square-foot facility in St. Louis to handle distribution of these products throughout the United States.
“A key pillar of our Show Me Strong Recovery Plan is expanding Missouri’s PPE reserves, which includes localizing the supply chain,” Governor Mike Parson said. “We are thrilled to work with Optimas Solutions and support its new nationwide distribution hub in St. Louis, which will be a huge asset not only to Missouri but the entire United States.”
Marc Strandquist, President of the Americas for Optimas Solutions, announced the appointment of Scott McDaniel, fastener industry veteran, to oversee the go-to-market approach, which is also designed to help Optimas expand into new markets.
“The goal of this strategy is to be laser focused on those products that are in urgent demand by our customers,” Strandquist said. “We’ve listened to and learned that our customers don’t necessarily need full-line distribution right now, but instead need Optimas to meet their needs for common items in a dedicated, efficient manner. Our goal is to simplify product selection and quickly deliver what our customers need most at the best value possible.”
“I’m excited about the potential for this strategy,” McDaniel said. “Our tapered approach enables Optimas to help customers access excellent products, with fast delivery and optimal pricing. The initial focus will be in two major categories, safety products and MRO items, with others to come. This dedicated effort is designed to meet the demands of customers for common safety consumables and MRO products.”
Safety Products will focus on personal protection and sanitation products to protect individuals in the workplace. Face masks, sanitizers, cleaning products, hearing protection, hand protection, and body coverings will be the basis of this offering. Optimas will stock and sell a selection of these common items that are used by nearly every business and manufacturer.
MRO Offerings will focus on materials, equipment and supplies necessary to keep production running smoothly. MRO products such as adhesive, abrasive, tape, and packaging materials along with janitorial supplies and cutting, repair and hand tools will be sourced and readily available to deliver for customer critical needs.
By streamlining the acquisition and fulfillment process for customers, this service expansion is relying on Optimas’ robust tech-enabled e-commerce website at us.optimas.com to process orders directly from customers for safety equipment and other MRO products. The site will also support order entry for internal sales team members working directly with customers using other sales channels. The goal is to meet demand quickly and seamlessly while providing competitive value for customers.
“Our engineered fasteners customers can now take advantage of our ability to also supply them with a focused set of MRO and safety products, while reducing the number of suppliers and related administrative costs,” McDaniel said.
“This new strategy will allow us to leverage our volumes to compete with larger players in the market without a large inventory investment,” Strandquist said. “We will offer a range of MRO items that we will source through distribution and be able to drop ship directly to our customers. We know to do so we must be flexible with customer requirements and continue to make it easy to order on our e-commerce platform.”